Alright, so my trainer got me on a routine for 2 weeks. He set the Machines I'm supposed to use, how much weight on each machine and 4 reps each.....Basically I do..

2 reps of 25 crunches on ab roller
cardio for 20 mins
2 reps of each weight machine
2 reps of 25 crunches on ab roller
cardio for 20 mins
2 reps of each weight machine

I have found that when I do my rouns on the weight machine...I get to the last machine and my arms just will not function and I can't finish my last rep, or sometimes not even the first.

Am I starting with too heavy of weights? Should I be doing it in the evening after I've eaten plenty? I usually do it in the morning after breakfast. I really feel like a weakling when this happens...but I know I'm not.

Help!

Hi!

As long as your working the same muscles everyday, you should be fine. I know it feels strange to be giving out by the end of your workout but when you are wearing your muscles out in a workout it means that you will start to build muscles. I do Jari Loves dvd workouts and I can't even do some of the exercises but I do as much as my muscles can take, 3 times a week.
Keep up the great work!!

I think SITIBODY meant as long as you are not working the same muscles every day.....

I'm a little confused about your routine. Are you only doing 4 repetitions of each exercise on each machine (and how many machines?) or 4 sets of how many reps?

How long does the whole routine take, including cardio?

It's OK to be exhausted at the end of your workout. If you are so exhasted that you're too tired and sore to do anything else for the rest of the day, that's overdoing it for starters. You need to challenge yourself, but have enough energy left to live the rest of your life. Do you recover and can you function? Remember that when you first start a challenging workout program you are going to be more tired, but you shouldn't be perpetually exhasuted.

Mel

I use the same 4 machines...the incline chest press, leg press, shoulder press and this big thing that I hook up to make it like i'm rowing...*I forget what it's called*. I do this every other day. I do 4 reps of 15-25 for each machine. The whole workout takes about 1 hr 15 mins or maybe just a little longer.

I can still function afterwards....usually the next day I wake up and can really feel it in my arms. I have really strong legs and of course I walk off a lot of the pain so I don't have too much of a problem with leg pain. It basically just feels really tight and...well like it's been worked. I guess it's a good feeling? I do love it....I just hate it when I'm doin it....especially the shoulder press...that thing KILLS me!

So as long as I'm not doing this EVERY day then I'm fine, right? Every other day is only about 3-4 days a week so I think that's about right for starting out. I know my trainer told me only 2 times a week, but...eh...I like going above and beyond. That is how I've lost 30 lbs in 5 weeks!

Haha, I did mean You are not working the same muscles everyday. (whoops, nice grammer too huh?) sorry

Hey Sheila, you mean sets, not reps. Reps are the number of times you lift the weight (eg., 15-25) and sets are how many times you do your established number of reps. Hopefully one of the experts will comment on this, but it strikes me that you're doing a very large number of reps--I thought conventional wisdom was to do 8-12 reps with exhaustion or semi-exhaustion by the 12th rep. Should Sheila be doing fewer reps with a higher weight or is there some advantage to doing such a large number of reps?

It doesn't sound as though you are overdoing it though. Exhaustion is pretty much to be expected at the end of your workout. Just don't hurt yourself!

It really depends on your goals, but I personally consider anything above a rep count of 15 on a regular basis to be short cardio.

It sounds like your trainer has you on a fast paced circuit where the main goal is fat burning.

With weight training, more frequent is not always better. Are you still sore when you do your routine again? With the volume (total number of repetitions) that you are doing, I'd be concerned about tendonitis if you are soing the same 4 machines every other day. If you had a slightly different workout to alternate, it wouldn't be as big an issue.

See how you feel- if you start to feel like you never quite recover, cut back to 3 times a week and/or tell your trainer you would like more variety because you want to workout more frequently.

Mel